What’s it going to be, NewsCutters: sex, alcohol, or the Internet? The Boston Consulting Group has released a survey including what activities or habits people would give up before they’d give up their Internet access?

To be fair, the survey was more sophisticated than the factoid everyone is focusing on would suggest. The report, The Internet Economy in the G-20, details the impact of a $4.2 trillion “opportunity.” And it says tablets and smartphones will account for four of every five ways by which people connect to the Internet.

The power of exponential growth is illustrated by an ancient fable, repopularized by Ray Kurzweil in his book, The Age of Spiritual Machines. It tells of a rich ruler who agrees to reward an enterprising subject starting with one grain of rice on the first square of a chessboard, then doubling the number of grains on each of the succeeding 63 squares. The ruler thinks he’s getting off easy, and by the thirty-second square, he owes a mound weighing 100,000 kilograms, a large but manageable amount. It’s in the second half of the chessboard that the real fun starts. Quickly, 100,000 becomes 400,000, then 1.6 million, and keeps growing. By the sixty-fourth square, the ruler owes his subject 461 billion metric tons, more than 4 billion times as much as on the first half of the chessboard, and about 1,000 times global rice production in 2010.

The Internet has moved into the second half of the chessboard. (See Exhibit 1.) It has reached a scale and level of impact that no business, industry, or government can ignore. And like any technological phenomenon with its scale and speed, it presents myriad opportunities, which consumers have been quick and enthusiastic to grasp. Businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs)–the growth engine of most economies–have been uneven in their uptake, but they are moving online in increasing numbers and with an increasingly intense commitment

Intense, indeed. Check out how much people value their connection.

(Credit: Boston Consulting Group)

Most people wouldn’t give up sex for the Internet. But if we’re reading this chart correctly, they’d give up sex for their car, which is an entirely different story for another day.

Gas prices in the Twin Cities hit $3.79 this week, some of the highest prices ever at this time of the year, and an analysis by the Associated Press takes fuel away from the argument that domestic oil production could drop prices.

If more domestic oil drilling worked as politicians say, the AP reports today, you’d now be paying about $2 a gallon for gasoline. Instead, you’re paying the highest prices ever for March.

In fact, the more oil companies drilled in the U.S., the higher the prices went.

Daily Circuit (9-12 p.m.) – First hour: In the wake of Somalia and Rwanda, the international community set out to define is moral obligations of when to intervene in a country’s internal affairs. We’re seeing those tensions and decisions more than ever prominently play out in the Middle East. What goes into a country’s decision or the United Nation’s decision in deciding when, how and why it should intervene?

Second hour: We know that our DNA is uniquely ours, but do we really own our own genetic information? In biobanks across the country, researchers store millions of genetic samples taken from patients – sometimes without their knowledge – and there are currently no clear guidelines on how to deal with the tissues and findings. What obligation do these researchers have to return samples (and the sometimes unexpected findings from the samples) to patients and their families?

Last week, we heard from members of Ojibwe bands who say the grey wolf is an animal respected in their cultural legacy. They’re upset at proposals for a new wolf hunting season in Minnesota. Who are the people interested in hunting and trapping wolves? What’s their motivation? MPR’s Tom Robertson will have the answers.

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts where he was vice president of programming for Berkshire Broadcasting Company. Previously, he was an editor at the RKO Radio network in New York, and WHDH Radio in Boston. He is the founder of the MPR News’ website.

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Thanks for adding the NPR story on declining gasoline consumption in the US (we see that in MN, too), Bob. I was listening to that on the way to work. Perhaps we are finally on the right track…

Bob Moffitt

What cartoon character would best explain today’s hot-button issues?

Easy: The Simpsons. They could do a segment on how Smithers is taxed at a higher rate than Mr. Burns, and Lisa explains to Homer that Santa’s Little Helper is not a dependent. D’oh!

Tyler

Bob C, I must confess. News Cut is in my Google Reader, and I don’t always check it out. With a headline like today’s, however….well, here I am!

I must be an outlier. I would gladly give up my car.

Kassie

Oh the internet, how I love you. I would give up most things in order to keep the internet. The internet means I can work from home twice a week. The internet means I can talk to my friends. The internet means I can meet people I will potentially have sex with. Without the internet, there is much less sex.

http://ofbuckleyandbeatles.wordpress.com Drae

The price of gasoline isn’t just about the ammount of crude we can produce, but also the ability to refine it. We haven’t opened a new refinery in decades, and the Northeast is actually closing refineries. I believe this is a large factor in the increasing prices at the pumps.

Bob Collins

The U.S. is now a net exporter of refined gasoline.

Jim Shapiro

Re Gas Prices: NPR’s To The Point program had an informative, multi-perspective analysis yesterday. Comes down to supply and demand, but with lots of devilish details.

But if sex was as readily available as my computers, there’s not much question that my desire for information and communication with my friends would come in 2nd. ( I’m married, so my computers are safe

Pray for those amongst us who are doubly addicted to digital sex on the internet. Yikes.

Bob Moffitt

I knew the story (well, most of it) behind the “Keep Calm & Carry On” poster, so I had not looked at the video link until this morning.

I’m glad I did. What a well-done and charming little feature. Hat tip to all who produced it.